How Toasters Work

­For lots of people, the toaster is a daily part of breakfast (and lunch and maybe even dinner). The toaster seems like a pretty simple device, but som­e questions do come up: How, exactly, does the toaster toast the bread? How do all of the different settings work? How does the toaster know when to pop the toast up?

In this article, we'll dissect a typical pop-up toaster to answer all of these questions and more!